The third film in the The Mummy series freshens the franchise up by setting the action in China. There, the discovery of an ancient emperor's elaborate tomb proves a feather in the cap of Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford), a youn... more &raquog archaeologist and son of Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, taking over the role from Rachel Weisz). Unfortunately, a curse that turned the emperor (Jet Li) and his army into terra cotta warriors buried for centuries is lifted, and the old guy prepares for world domination by seeking immortality at Shangri La. The O'Connells barely stay a step ahead of him (climbing through the Himalaya mountains with apparent ease), but the action inevitably leads to a showdown between two armies of mummies in a Chinese desert. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has a lot to offer: a supporting cast that includes the elegant Michelle Yeoh, Russell Wong, and Liam Cunningham, the unexpected appearance of several Yeti, and a climactic battle sequence that is nightmarishly weird but compelling. On the downside, the charm so desperately sought in romantic relationships, as well as comic turns by John Hannah (as Evelyn's rascal brother), is not only absent but often annoying. Rarely have witty asides in the thick of battle been more unwelcome in a movie. Rob Cohen's direction is largely crisp if sometimes curious (a fight between Fraser and Jet Li keeps varying in speed for some reason), but his vision of Shangri La, in the Hollywood tradition, is certainly attractive. --Tom Keoghbr>

Stills from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Click for larger image)&laquo less

Movie Reviews

The Mummy 3

thecritic | 09/13/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Like most movie series, this one is getting tired. The story line was not as spellbinding as the previous movies in the series, and the fact that "Evie" was not the Evie of the previous 2 movies in the series, takes the zing out of it. I hate when characters are replaced. Just write out the character. The series loses credibility when a character is replaced by someone new. Over all I would say that the 3rd in the series was not up to the standard of the previous 2 movies."

Sean Daniel and Rob Cohen: The Madoffs of movies.

trastevere | rome, italy | 08/13/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is a crime against movies. Virtually every frame includes elements stolen from better movies. Everything has been ripped off then re-hashed in the most vulgar, brain-dead way imaginable.

The producer, Sean Daniel, has the nerve to name his production company Alphaville, after a landmark movie by French new wave maverick Jean Luc Godard. Daniel and his cohorts should be sued-- not only for creating a travesty, but for trashing the work of so many far worthier creators.

Honestly, if it were possible, I'd have Daniel and his director Rob Cohen sent to jail! What they have done here drags what's left of film culture into the mud. These guys are to movies what Madoff is to finance.

Karma will get them in the end. It already has: they're certainly intombed in the evil of their own parasitic slime.

On the other hand, I feel sorry for the actors-- except that they didn't have to take the money.

Hunter Thompson was right: this is a generation of swine!"

The Further Sullying of a Franchise

W. M. Bell | Little Rock, AR | 06/29/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"For whatever reasons, I truly enjoy the first two movies of this series, so much so that I still watch them rather frequently. They are always the go-to movies if I just feel like watching something to entertain me but nothing around me is tickling my fancy. Fraser and Weisz have amazing chemistry, the plot is exciting, and the side characters are hilarious...not to mention the hot as hell-fire desert man from Deuce Bigelow fame.

So then there was news of the 3rd installment. At this point I was working toward my college degree, but I was just as thrilled as the first time I heard about it. Rejoicing all over the place. Then my little bubble got burst. Rachel Weisz would not be cast as Edie in this movie.

She was offered the role, for sure, but turned it down because of a bad script. I was really upset with this woman at first and then I saw the mistake, I mean movie, which she wisely chose not to touch with a 10 foot pole. What a piece of garbage. Not only did the plot seem completely contrived, it had hardly any continuity from the previous movies. How did Alex go from being a child around 10 to a person who looks to be 30 in the couple of years between these movies? Where did his British accent go and how did it turn into an American one while he was digging around in China? Who is the psychopath that thought replacing Weisz with Maria Bello would be in any way okay? What happened to Edie being Egyptian? For goodness sake, it seems like they didn't even try to pick someone who could hold up that part with any integrity. It just seems like they picked the first available actress who would do it for the cheapest (Maria Bello's career isn't exactly stellar so I'm sure it didn't take much at all to get her on board). Weisz was fiesty and captivating, where Bello is vanilla and honestly just seems lost in the movie. Its like Rob Cohen just wanted to crank out another film as quickly and cheaply as possible, regardless of what effect it would have on the integrity of the product he is pushing. I honestly think that if Fraser's career wasn't in such a slump he would have turned down the role as well (which I would have LOVED so we could just pick up from the 2nd movie when a director with an actual sense of what is good could take on the franchise). But no... now we are stuck trying to work around that disaster of a movie.

What is really sad is that they already have plans for the Mummy 4: Rise of the Aztecs, with 5 and 6 waiting in the wings. Maria Bello (having nothing better to do) has already signed on for all of them. Its a tragedy. Now we all get to sit by and watch Rob Cohen run this franchise into the ground, taking whats left of poor Fraser's career with it. This franchise could have been really great. It would have been the Indiana Jones of my generation...now it will never live up to the potential it once had. Fraser is the only thing left breathing life into these movies, and he is the one who is going to shoulder the blame for the rest of them bombing because he pretty much IS the franchise....its terrible.

The only way it could be saved is this: Someone, for God's sake, take the reigns from Rob Cohen's hands. Basically pretend like the 3rd movie didn't happen, bring back Weisz, find someone (much younger and better at acting!) who could actually be Rick and Edie's son, and for the love of all things holy stop making Alex the focus of the movie. Rick is the best character, there haven't even been enough movies to start "passing the torch" to his kid yet, geez. I mean c'mon Rob Cohen, couldn't you have tried just a little bit? This movie franchise is going to crumble in your fingers, Rob, because you decided it was better to lose one of the MAIN TWO CHARACTERS who CARRIED the movies because you were too cheap and lazy to find better writers, and wanted to make a quicker buck than have a high quality movie which could endure for years to come.

I won't be back to watch any more Mummy movies....after that third one I doubt I'll even bother renting them. I'm happy without wasting a whole two hours of my life. I'll just have to keep watching the first two and hoping that some day, years down the line, some director will realize how much of a mistake this was and re-do the series. Here's to hoping."